Reversing-clutch.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES RICHARD ALSOP, OF MIDDLETCWN, CONNECTICUT;

REVERSlNG-CLUTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,754, dated February 4, 1 90a.

Application filed May 23,1991.V Serial No. 61,574. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES RICHARD AL- SOP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, haveinvented anew and useful Reversing-Clutch, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to clutches, and more particularly to that class known as reversingclutches.

The object of the invention is in a simple and positive manner to effect reverse motion of a shaft or other piece of machinery, whether running at a high rate or low rate of speed, without jar or impact and without danger of injury to those parts Vof the clutch through the agency of which motion from a driving part is transmitted to a driven part; furthermore, to cause the driven part, if desired, to have a rate of speedgreater or less than that of the driving part, according as may be required; furthermore, in a positive and certain manner, through the agency of the clutch, to impart direct motion to a shaft or other piece of machinery to be driven.

Generally stated, the clutch characterized by my invention comprises a male member and a female member; and the object of this invention is to provide a novel manner of mounting power-transmitting means between parts ofthe two members, positive contact between the two members causing direct motion and positive contact between the power-transmitting means and the two members causing reversemotion.

The invention consists, still more generally stated, in a clutch comprising a female member fixed to a shaft, a male membereither fixed or movable on a shaft, but shiftable to coact with one part of the female member to cause direct motion, friction-rollers to 'coact with another part of the female member and with a part of the male member to cause reverse motion, and means for holding and guiding the rollers with relation to theparts with which they coact, the coacting surfaces of the different parts of the clutch being all pitched at an angle to the longitudinal axis of rotation and on lines that converge to a common center.

The invention consists, still more generally stated, in a clutch comprising a movable male member having an internal and an external taper, a fixed female member having an in'- ternal and external taper, the internal taper of the female member being normally engaged by the external taperof the male member, and taperedfriction-rollers, constituting power transmitting and reversing means, interposed between the external taper of the female member and the internal taper of the male member, the rollers being free to rotate on their longitudinal axes, but held against displacement with relation to the parts with which they coact, the coacting surfaces of the parts of the clutch being all pitohedat an angle to the longitudinal axis of rotation and on lines that converge to a common center.

The salient and underlying principle of this invention and that which is to be borne in mind as differentiating it from the art is that by the coaction between a plurality of cone or tapered surfaces direct and reverse motions of thepart to be driven' are effected in a positive and thoroughly effective manner.

Vhere the device is employed for connecting the sections kof a two-part driving-shaft of a piece of machinery-such as that of a gas-engine, a turning-lathe, a planer, or the likethe parts of the clutch may be held in contact for transmission of power by a locking and releasing lever or by spring-pressure; but when used for connecting two sections of a propeller-shaft the thrust of the propel- 1er may be relied upon -to hold the parts of the clutch firmly locked on both motions of the propeller, although the lever or its equivalent Will generally be applied.

Further and salient features of this invention will be hereinafter fully pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, Ihave illustrated a formof embodiment of my invention as applied to apropeller-shaft, itbein g understood that other forms operative relation of the parts of the clutch IOO when used for reverse motion. Fig. 3 is a 'view in transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View in perspective of a portion of the cone-bearing guide or cage. Fig. 5 is a detached detail View in perspective of a form of roller-cage that may be employed in lieu of that shown in detail in Fig. et.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the male member of the clutch; 2, the female member; 3, the roller-bearing guide or cage; 4, a roller-holding ring; 5, the friction-rollers; 6, in this instance, the driving-shaft, and 7, in this instance, the driven shaft. The male member 1 is provided with a hub or collar 8, having a circumferential groove 9 to be engaged by a yoke 10 of a locking and releasing lever 1l, this lever being one of many forms of device that may be employed for imparting reciprocatory movement to this member. The male member has a central shaftopening in which fits the shaft 7, a spline 12 serving to hold the male member on the shaft against independent rotation, but leaving the member free to be moved longitudinally thereon, as shown in Fig. 1, to bring the male member into engagement with the female member; but, if preferred, the male member may be rigidly held on the shaft 7 against movement, as shown in Fig. 2, wherein a bolt 13 is employed, which passes through the collar of the male member and into the shaft. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 movement of the lever 11 will cause the male member to slide on the shaft without imparting any motion to the shaft, while in the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 motion of the male member will cause movement with it of the shaft '7. The male member is composed of an elongated coneshaped extension 14, constituting one of the male clutch members, hereinafter designated as the external taper, a hollow tapered or truncated cone-shaped collar or sleeve 15, screwed or otherwise secured to a flange 1G, forming a continuation of the hub 8, constituting the other male clutch member and hereinafter designated as the internal taper, the pitch-lin es of the internal taper of the sleeve 15 and of the external taper of the extension 14 coinciding with the taper of the rollers 5, so that when the clutch members are shifted to the position shown in Fig. 2 there will be exact contact between the said parts. Upon the shaft 6 is mounted the female member 2 of the clutch, the same comprising a hub or collar 17, secured to the shaft 6, in this instance by a key 18, and provided with a hollow truncated cone-shaped head 19, the two cone-surfaces thus presented being hereinafter designated, respectively, as the internal and the external tapers of the female member, these tapers of the female member being pitched in the samedirection as the internal and external tapers of the male member. The internal taper of the head 19 of the female member is engaged by the external scarse taper of the extension 14 of the male member, contact between these two parts being effected when direct motion is desired, as indicated in Fig. 1. Between the external taper of the female member and the internal taper of the sleeve 15 is arranged a series of friction-rollers 5, constituting in operation a power transmitting and reversing means. The rollers are tapered to cause their sides to present lines extending parallel with the internal taper of the sleeve 15 and the external taper of the female member, so that when the male member is moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 for reverse motion there will be positive and exact contact of the friction-rollers throughout their length with the internal taper of the male member and the external taper of the female member, this perfect contact between the friction-rollers and the tapers of the male member and the female mem ber being effected by reason of the similar pitch of the lines of all these parts. It will be observed that the internal taper of the female member when engaged by the external taper of the extension 14 of the male member causes direct motion and that the external taper of the female member when engaged by the friction-rollers in connection with the internal taper of the male member causes reverse motion. This double function of a sin- `gle element is of the highest importance, as it not only effects positive operation of the clutch to cause direct or reverse rotation of the shaft, but also reduces the number of parts of the device to a minimum, as gears, levers, and other devices of like character usually employed for bringing about this result are dispensed with.

The hub or collar portion 17 of the female member is mounted in and supported by the roller-bearing guide Or cage 3, the collar 17L of the latter having a threaded or any other preferred form of rigid connection with a bearing or collar 2O to be secured to the boattimbers or to the engine-frame or to other suitable support, as on the bed-plate of a lathe, a planer, or a gas-engine, the cage forming a bearing in which the female member revolves and is centered. rlhe bearing 2O may be a split collar or clamp and may be held assembled with the cage by dowel-pins or the like, the particular manner of assembling these parts being immaterial, the point in View being to hold the cage against rot-ation. The form of roller guide or cage 3 shown in detail in Fig. 4 is provided with a flange 2l in diameter ot' a size to enterthe small end ofthe sleeve 15 and has its inner face provided with a plurality of depressions 22, con stituting bearings, these being preferably hemispherical in shape and corresponding in number to the friction-rollers, and in these depressions one end of each of the friction-rollers works, the ends of the rollers being preferably rounded to fit the depressions, thus to present a large wearing-surface. The flange carries arms 23, either integral with or se- IOO IIO

cured thereto, between which work. frictionrollers 5, the free ends of these arms being ening also provided withl depressions 24, constituting bearings similar to those in the ange 2l, in which 1he other ends of the friction-rollers bear, the ring 4 being held in positionV against the arms 23 in any preferred manner, as by screws 25. (Also shown in Fig. 3.) By the arrangement described the friction-rollers are permitted to have free motion on their longitudinal axes, but are heldin.

ner just describedthat is to say, of a plurality of separable members-I may make it of a single piece of metal, as shown in Fig. 5, this latter form of cage presenting points of advantage by reason of simplicity of construction and minimum liability to damage in use of the .male member.

over that shown in Figs. 1 to 4. When thev cageis made as shown in Fig. 5, the cone or body portion is provided with slots 26, corresponding intnumber to .the friction-rollers, and in these slots the rollers will work in the same manner as'between the arms 23, (shown in Figs. 1 to 4,) the ends of the slots being sition shown in Fig. 1, the clutch then trans` mits direct motion. Should it be desired to stop, say, the propeller-shaft without stopping the engine, a slight movement of the le-` ver 1l will draw the cone-shaped extension 14 of the male member out of contact with the internal taper of the female member, thereby breaking or destroying the'frictional contact between these parts and causing the driven shaft 7 to cease rotating. Upon further outer movement of the lever 1l the friction-rollers -5 will be caused to contact with the internal taper ofthe sleeve 15 and the external. taper of the female member, thereby imparting reverse motion to the shaft 7, the position of the parts for reverse motion being shown inFig. 2. It will be readily appreciated that by reason of the coaction between the extension 14 of the male and the in ternal taper of the female member the two shafts will always be kept in exact alinement, the parts described operating to cause the shafts to be self-centering.

When the shaft 6 isti-1e driving-shaft, thev speed of the reverse motion of the shaft 7 will I be less than that of the driving-shaft in pro,-

portion tothe ou-tside diameter of the portion` 19 of the female member, the portion 15 of the malemember, and the crossdiameters of the friction-rollers. q when 6 is the driving-shaft on reverse motion the power is transmitted from the portion of t-he clutch having the smallestdiameter ,to the portion of the clutch having the largest diameter-that is to say, from the external taper of the female lnember to the internal taper of the sleeve V,l5-the clutch operating under these conditions, as will be apparent, in the same manner as where motion is transmitted from a small to a large gear-wheel. y'

When the shaft 7 is the driving-shaft, the

. speed of the reverse motion of the shaft 6 will The reason for this is `that v be greater than that of the shaft 7, for the rea son that the power is transmitted from the portion of the clutch having the greatest diameter to the portion of the clutch having the smallest diameter-that is to say, from the internal taper of the female me1nber-the .Y

clutch operating under these conditions-in the same manner as when motion is transmitted from-large to a small gear-wheel.

While in the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated lthe female member is fixed to the shaft and the male member is movable with o r on a shaft, it is to be understood that this arrangement may ybe reversed without departing from the spirit of my invention-- that is to say, the male member may beiixed v to the shaft andthe female member be` movable with or on a shaft.

A Among the features of advantage thatmay be enumeratedasinherent to the construction of the clutch forming this invention, the Y elements for effecting which results have been fully described, arezthel reductiorrinw IOO tional contact between the parts ofthe clutch and the friction-rollers, thisbeing eected bythe employment of a comparatively large 'number of rollers and disposing these in a plane as nearly parallel with the axis of roe tation as Y possible, whereby the wedging action of the parts is great-ly augmented; the.

effecting of positive contact betweenthe parts of the clutch and the friction-rollers by having the pitch-lines of all thebearing-surfaces converge to a common center, this result bethe vother parts of the clutch; the. manner of -disposingand assembling the partsof the clutch to cause' them `,to be self-centering, thereby insuringalinement ofthe two'shaftsections; the supporting of the friction-rollers in such manner as at once to hold the female member of the clutch and the rollers in perfect line with the shaft; the supporting of the friction-rollers in such manner as while they will freely rotate about their longitudinal axes they will be held from endwise movement, the rollers being solid and of comparatively small transverse diameter, the latter feature being of importance where the speed of the direct and reverse motions are to approximate each other as nearly as possible, as where the clutch is to be used on a propeller-shaft; the provision of mea-ns for causing the reverse motion to be greater or less than that of the direct motion, this being effected by reversing the location of the clutch memberthat is to say, the placing on the driven shaft of those parts of the clutch normally carried by the driving-shaft, and vice versa-and by increasing or diminishing the transverse diameter of the friction-rollers, and the effecting by a single fixed part through cooperation with movable parts direct and reverse motion of the driven shaft, this being secured by forming the female member of the clutch with a hollow head having internal and exterior tapered or cone-shaped surfaces to be engaged, respectively, by the male part of the clutch and by the frictionerollers.

The features above enumerated are salient and appreciable from the description of the apparatus given; but it will be obvious that various and other specific advantages will accrue from the construction shown and such as will readily be appreciated by any one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that while the device of this invention is composed of but afew number of parts these are so constructed and assembled that the maximum power and efficiency is effected with a minimum liability to derangement or damage from use.

What I claim is- 1. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage, and power-transmitting means held in operative position by the cage and coacting with parts of the two members.

2. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage, and friction-rollers carried by the cage and coacting with parts of the t'wo members.

A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage provided with slots, and friction-rollers mounted in the slots.

4. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage provided with longitudinal slots, and friction-rollers mounted in the slots and bearing at their ends against the terminals of the slots.

5. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage provided with longitudinal slots having inset terminals, and tapered friction-rollers mounted in the slots and having rounded ends to engage the said terminals.

G. Aclutch comprisinga male member having an external sleeve, a female member housed within the sleeve, a cage, and frictionrollers carried by the cage and interposed between the sleeve and the female member.

7. A clutch comprisingamale member having a tapered axial portion and an external sleeve, a female member housed Within the sleeve and having a part to engage the said tapered portion, a cage, and friction-rollers carried by the cage and interposed between the sleeve and the female member.

8. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage in which the female member revolves and provided with longitudinal slots, and friction-rollers Workinginthe slots.

9. Aclutch comprising a male member hav ing an external sleeve, a female member housed within the sleeve, a cage provided With longitudinal slots, and friction-rollers mounted in the slots and projecting at each side beyond the cagevhereby to engage either with the external taper of the female member or the internal taper of the sleeve.

lO. A clutch comprising a male member having a tapered axial portion and an external sleeve, a female member housed between the sleeve and the axial portion, a fixed cage in which the female member revolves, and

friction-rol1ers carried by the cage and disposed between the female member and the sleeve.

ll. A clutch comprising a male and a female member, each connected with a section of a shaft, the male member having an axial portion to house the ends of both shaft-sections, Whereby to hold them in alinement.

12. A clutch comprising a female member xed to a shaft, a male member shiftable to coact With one part of the female member to cause direct motion, friction-rollers 4to coact with another part of the female member and with a part of the male member to cause re d verse motion, and means forholding and guiding the rollers with relation to the parts with which they coact, the coacting surfaces of the different parts of the clutch being all pitched at an angle to the longitudinal axis of rotation and on lines that converge to a common center.

13. A clutch comprising a movable male member having an internal and an external taper, a fixed female member having an internal and an external taper, the internal taper of the female member being normally engaged by the external taper of the male member,and power-transmitting means interposed between the external taper of the female member and the internal taper of the male member.

14. A clutch comprising a movable male member having an internal and an external taper, a fixed female member having an in- IIO ternal and external taper, and.` tapered friction-rollers interposed between the external taper of the female member and the internal taper of the male membeiythe rollers being free to rotate on their longitudinal axes, and means to hold the rollers against displacement with relation to the parts with which they coact.

l 17. A clutch comprising a movable male member `having an internal and an external taper, a fixed female member having an inv ternal and external taper, and tapered friction-rollers interposed between the external taper of the female memberand the internal taper of the male member, the rollers being free to rotate on their longitudinal axes, and means to hold the rollers4 against displacement with relation to lthe parts with which they coact, the ooacting surfaces of the parts of the clutch being all pitched at an angle to the longitudinal axis ofrotation and on lines that converge to a common center.

18. A clutch comprising a female member,

- In testimonythat I claim a male member, a cage, and friction-rollers carried by the cage.

19. A clutch comprisinga female member, a malefmember, a cage on which the female member revolves, tapered f riction-rollers carried by the'cage, and a reversing-lever coacting `with the male member to move thesame to and from the female member.

v2O. A clutch comprising a male member, a female member, a cage carried by thevfemale member, said cage being provided with longitudinal slots having at each end a hemispherical bearing, and tapered friction-rollers having rtheir ends rounded to engage the bearings. v

2l. A .clutch comprising a female member,

a male member, a cage having longitudinalV slots, friction-rollers mountedin the'slots, and a roller-holding ring at one end ofthe cage, the ring and cage being provided with means to hold the rollers against displacement. i l n 22. A clutch comprising a female member, a male member, a cage having'longitudinal slots, tapered friction-rollers mounted inthe slots, and a roller-holdingring at one end of v the cage, the cage and the ring having depressions in which the ends of the friction-rollers work.

the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.Y

n CHARLES RICHARD ALsor.

Witnesses: I

GEo. A. GOLES, HUBERT C. DANEORTH. 

